


Heart's Light

by Chrissss



Series: What Makes A Heart [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, I swear I'm working on MD, Kid Fic, Mostly Fluff, Oneshot, Procrastinated Product Produced by Procrastinating a different Project, Sora can sense people's hearts, Sora is the player character from KHX [chi], There are Consequences to having someone's heart in your own for years, beta and we still die like illiterates, can be standalone, hide and seek master, though that's not that important in this, with a bit of angst at the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 12:41:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21118964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chrissss/pseuds/Chrissss
Summary: Kairi may be able to make pretty charms better than anyone he knew and Riku may be better at pretty much everything else, but Sora has always been the King of hide-and-seek.





	Heart's Light

**Author's Note:**

> Whilst I was in the midst of severely procrastinating working on chapter 2 of Memoriam Dolorum, this oneshot wouldn't get out of my head. I then proceeded to procrastinate working on THIS until a fit of inspiration hit me yesterday.
> 
> I swear I'm working on chapter 2 of Memoriam Dolorum, I have high hopes I can get it done soon-ish.  
(Hopefully)
> 
> Enjoy!

“18... 19... aaaaannndd 20! Ready or not here I come!” Sora shouted, hopping down from where he was sitting on the Paopu tree, a bright grin stretched across his face. There had been a bunch of storms last week and Sora’s dad wouldn’t take them to the island to play until he thought it was safe and made sure nothing had broken. But the storms were gone, everything that had broken (not much) had been fixed, and they could finally play! Best of all, they were playing Sora’s favorite game too! 

Running off across the bridge, he started hunting for Kairi; she was usually easier to find-- unless she was being extra sneaky (sometimes she was so sneaky she could even beat Riku! And Riku was the best at everything!). It had only been a few months since he found her washed up on the Main Island, but she fit right in even though she didn’t have any memories. But that was alright! They could make plenty of new ones! But wherever she came from (Riku was convinced she was from another world, _ how cool was that _!), she must have not run around much. He could outrun her easily, not to mention Riku. Course, that didn’t matter so much; she was really good at hiding, much better than she was at running.

_ But not good enough! _ he couldn't help but giggle to himself. After a quick mental game of Hot and Cold with Kairi in mind, making sure to wave to Papa when he passed where he was working outside (_his presence as sturdy as the wood he built with _ ), Sora moved to the obstacle course his dad had set up for him’n Riku and he knew she was close. He stopped on the recently fixed (_again _ ) bridge and concentrated really _ really _ hard and — _ there _. 

Ahead of him, near the tower somewhere, was the calm starry whirlpool he was looking for. Kairi.

(_he didn’t know how whirlpools could be calm, or how stars could exist inside them, but it was so uniquely _ Kairi _ he would never be able to forget it. And it really fit. She was mysterious and shone like the stars and was as strong as the whirlpools that the fishermen were so afraid of _)

Giggling again he ran over to the stairs and looked around, concentrating some more as he walked forward. His Mama always liked hearing about what people’s auras (at least that’s what she called them) felt like and what he thought it might mean about who they were (_she was warm like the sun and felt like sunflowers in peaceful rainfall — loving calm nurturing. She always gave him a big hug when he talked about her _), and while he wasn’t the best at it yet, he would always be able to find his precious people in a crowd.

Which meant that, while Kairi could sometimes hide even better than Riku, she wasn’t good enough to hide from him. So when he got a pile of empty crates next to the big hole in the wall, Sora didn’t hesitate to lift up the smallest one half-hidden by the bigger ones and simply say “Found ya!” at the scowling face of one of his best friends.

“I thought I had it with the boxes this time!” Kairi huffed out as she got up before muttering, “the barrels worked on Riku.” Sora laughed with a cheeky grin splitting his face.

“Maybe I'm just better at this than Riku!”And he was very proud of that fact. Kairi may be able to make pretty charms better than anyone he knew and Riku may be better at pretty much everything else, but Sora has always been the King of hide-and-seek.

“Well, that's because you can just cheat!” Kairi scowled again.

“Then get better at hiding!”

“Hey!” With a laugh, Sora ran off back to the other side of the island, Kairi hot on his heels, shouting threats. Now he just needed to find Riku! Which was usually harder cuz he was really sneaky, but he could do it! He’d never lost a game after all! 

* * *

Ok, so he had gotten a little distracted from trying to find Riku. But! It wasn’t his fault! Kairi hadn’t stopped chasing him for, like, ten whole minutes, and then when she finally stopped they’d both gotten distracted watching Papa carve a new sculpture for Ms. Hana down the road and it was really really pretty just like Ms. Hana and his Papa always made great things. But now he was ready to finally find his other best friend.

He concentrated again and played another game of Hot and Cold, this time with Riku in mind, and eventually narrowed it down to the west side of the island, near the platform between the two trees Papa had built around. Once Sora actually got to the platform, he had to wonder if his power was broken. There wasn’t anywhere to hide here! No barrels, no boxes, no nothing! He huffed and started pacing, trying to concentrate even more. He knew Riku was here, just where...ohhhhh. How sneaky!

If Kairi’s aura was strange then Riku’s was downright para- paradoxical (see he could so too use big words _ Riku _ ). Riku felt like the brightest shadows ever, even though the shadows were still really dark, and Sora _ knew _ that was weird cuz shadows didn’t work that way _ at all _, his teachers said so. But that was ok, he didn’t need to think about it too much, cuz it was Riku. Riku was awesome. 

He just wasn’t awesome enough to hide from him for long.

Looking up into the trees, Sora called, “Riku, I know you’re up there! Come down!” In response, the leaves started rustling until a head of white hair poked out, a scowl on his face that was eerily similar to Kairi’s. Except was there a pout there?

“How did you even know I was up there? It was perfect! It took you a super long time to find me too!” Yup, that was definitely a pout. Sora tried really hard not to grin, really he did, but that was just too funny.

“Well I did get stumped for a bit, but I noticed your aura was higher than the floor. And the only reason I took so long was cuz I was watching Papa make something for Ms. Hana.” Riku muttered under his breath about cheating and absent-minded idiots and Sora just grinned even harder and made sure to punch him in the arm for the last comment. Riku harumphed and started walking back to the beach, looking back to make sure Sora followed.

“Whatever, I’ll just have to find an even better hiding spot next time.” Riku looked really stubborn about it too. Maybe he’ll get together with Kairi and to con-spi-re against him.

“Good luck with that~!” With one last cheeky grin, Sora bolted for the beach, knowing without a head start he wouldn’t win a race against Riku.

“Oi!”

All three of them spent the rest of the day running around and playing knight (after the first few times Kairi refused to be left out, said something about how being a princess was boring, (_though if her eyes got a little distant when she said that, Sora didn’t mention it _ ), and watching his Papa build more things after he finished Ms. Hana’s sculpture (It was a big wave with a dolphin surfing in it, which matched what Sora felt from her, playful and smelling like a sea breeze). At the end of the day, after all of them were piled in the boat and Papa was busy rowing back home, Sora looked at his friends and promised, “Ya know, if you ever get lost, you don’t have to worry! I’ll make sure to find you!” He meant every word too. Maybe his friends, his _ family _, could feel it too, they both looked as serious as Sora felt in that instant.

Then Riku had to spoil it by smirking at him. “Yeah, sure. Then you’ll be lost right along with us!” And then Kairi had the nerve to agree, nodding her head with all the solemnity a five-year-old could hold.

“He’s right Sora. You better make sure you have someone responsible with you if you try to come find us.”

“Hey!” His friends were so mean! Didn’t mean he would take back what he said. 

(<strike>**_He wouldn’t lose anyone again if he could help it_ ** </strike>)

* * *

Sora sighed as he sat on the ground in the middle of the Third District, trying not to cry. After Donald and Goofy had left the room in Cid’s old house Sora had snuck out through the window to try and see if Riku was still in Traverse Town. That had been _ hours _ ago and he still hadn’t found anything. Worse, it had started to rain halfway through his search and now he was cold and wet in addition to being exhausted.

He loved his new friends, really (_Donald left a fizzy taste in his mouth and felt like thunderclouds, and Goofy always brought to mind a sunny day perfect for dozing outside in _ ), but sometimes he just really wanted to scream at them in frustration. Riku had been _ right there _ and just being able to feel the _ roilingdarkbright _ of Riku’s heart had nearly sent him to his knees (_even if it had been less bright than usual and something slimy had crawled onto his tongue, it was still _ Riku). But now he was gone and he couldn’t find him. His “big cheat” wasn’t working right and it couldn’t work across worlds _ anyway _ so Riku could be _ anywhere _.

(If his power had been working, it wouldn’t be telling him Kairi was right next to him even though she _ clearly wasn’t _ and wouldn’t be telling him some of these new people were familiar _ even though they very clearly weren’t _ . Wouldn’t be muffled and weak like it hadn’t been in _ years _.)

(<strike>_Hercules had gotten a lot bigger but even back then he was like an unmovable mountain, and Phil was the same as ever and still reminded him of grapes _ </strike>)

Sitting there, alone, surrounded by the slimy, oppressive feel of darkness lingering in the shadows but too drained to care, Sora let his tears mingle with rain, and couldn’t help but turn his face to the sky and mutter to himself, “I guess you finally won a game of hide-and-seek, huh Riku?”

* * *

Standing on top of a building, cloaked in as much darkness as he could safely handle to make himself invisible to Sora’s senses, Riku felt a pang of guilt go through his heart and a flash of doubt about Maleficent’s words wriggle its way into his mind at the sight of his best friend’s crying form.

He smiled humorlessly to himself and said, a touch bitter, “I guess I found that perfect hiding spot, huh?”, before turning and heading back to where he asked Maleficent to wait for him. He still had the third member of their trio to find, after all.

(He didn’t try to crush that little bit of doubt, though)

**Author's Note:**

> Some things that I thought about that arent important at all but wanted to talk about anyway:  
-Sora's mom's name is Kyouka (強化) which means strengthening or reinforcement, and his dad's name is Jin (仁) which means, among other things, compassion and humanity.  
-Kyouka is the one always there to help Sora with whatever he needs and raise him up when he's down, hence her name  
-Same with Jin, he's a great guy who likes to do nice things for people and is where Sora gets his compassion from  
-Kyouka is a perfectly nice housewife who loves gardening, cooking and browbeating people into submission when she argues with them. Is also very good at using everyday household items as impromptu weapons when startled. Don't ask how.  
-Jin is a skilled woodworker and comes highly rated around the island. Enjoys making things for people he likes and can be very passive-aggressive to those he doesn't.
> 
> Some things that ARE important, but didn't make it into the one-shot:  
\- Sora does not know that what he senses are hearts (at least not when he's five) which is why he refers to it as "presence" or "aura". These terms will still be used, but with the understanding that he is feeling people's hearts once he learns that is what he's sensing.  
-In the same vein, Sora's sensing abilities affect one or more of his senses: touch, smell, hearing, taste. It differs from person to person and how strong Sora's abilities are at the time  
-For those who know what is going on in the one chapter I have for MD, VEN CANNOT DO THIS. However, memories are powerful things and Sora can get echos of what they would have felt like if he could (with his own memories reinforcing the impression)
> 
> Honestly guys I'm so sorry I haven't updated MD yet but it's coming. I'm currently working on editing Ch.1 because I forgot to add somethings.
> 
> Let me know what you guys thought down below and feel free to correct any mistakes you catch. I tried to write the mind of a five-year-old and I think I only got it half right XD.


End file.
